This One Secret Protects You from Alzheimer’s

I just finished Life Reimagined: The Science, Art, and Opportunity of Midlife by Barbara Bradley Hagerty. It’s a fascinating book: full of tips on how to navigate midlife as we lay the groundwork for transitioning to the second half of our lives. She shares a lot of good information that I enjoyed reading – particularly about the importance of working to maintain our friendships as we age – but the most important information I got from her book was something I had never read before: when it comes to Alzheimer’s, the disease that rightly strikes fear in the heart of every midlife person, biology is by no means destiny.

As it turns out, several studies have followed people who agreed to have their cognitive abilities tested as they grew older and then have an autopsy performed to test for Alzheimer’s when they died (still the only way to truly diagnose the disease). To the amazement of the researchers, they consistently found that at least a third of the subjects with the distinctive plaque that is a marker of the disease showed no mental impairment during their lifetimes.

So what protected these people from their supposedly inevitable mental decline? Was it regular exercise, good nutrition, good music and a good woman as my dad might have said? Well, those things helped, but the number one attribute people who escaped dementia had in common was a purpose in life.

It might have been Saturday morning language lessons, or a passion for race walking, or even a strong love for their grandchildren but these folks had a reason to get up every day and so they were motivated to keep their brains sharp to continue to enjoy their passion. They were so motivated by what they loved that their brains compensated for the damage caused by the plaque growing on it from Alzheimer’s. Their brains overcame their destiny.

That’s powerful stuff. And encouraging. Because if you’re in midlife now, this is the perfect time to find or start enjoying your passion. Your mind may depend on it.

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13 Comments

Great post! My children tease me about how many times I’ve retired, but keep going back to part-time work! I love interacting with people and I work for” Visiting Angels”. Only 12 hours a week but it is soooo rewarding and keeps me active, in body and spirit.

This makes sense to me, and is something I think about a lot. We are living longer and once the kids are gone and our career starts to wind down, its time to ask ‘what’s next?’ I think i’ll get the book, sounds like a good read.

What interesting information! A purpose in life. I knew it was important but I didn’t know it was that big of a deal. I’m glad I found out now so I don’t waste the rest of my life binge-watching Netflix. Wait. Is that a purpose?

So true! Keep the brain active. We just had my husband’s 97-year-old grandmother visiting us and we took her to New York City for the weekend because she was begging us to do so. She walked all around, laughed, talked to everyone, spend time with my grown daughters there! She has always had a purpose and is a true inspiration. Still drives, cooks, and plays bridge several times a week. Great post!

Interesting post – I can see how keeping a purpose in life would help. Ok- so I won’t stop the renlentless pursuit of becoming so wealthy that I can sit around doing nothing (except that after reading this, when I get there, I won’t sit around doing nothing after all!) 🙂

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Hi! I'm Katy and I started Midlife Rambler when my youngest child was a senior and I was staring at the coming empty nest and wondering what was next for me. Midlife Rambler is a place where we can talk about our hopes, our fears, figure out what we want to be when we grow up, and have fun with our free time. Welcome! More About Me | Work with Me!

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